A personal exploration of Wiccan spirituality

Day 363: The Animal Spirit’s Magic

Now that we’ve found our way to the shamanic lowerworld, we can return there anytime by following the roots of the oak tree. We don’t need to cast a circle for future trips there, though we can if we life. At minimum, we should anoint ourselves at the backs of our knees and insides of the elbows with the animal power oil and burn the animal power incense.

Today, we’re going to return to the lowerworld to learn about our familiar-self’s magic. Have a magical partner read the following guided imagery or record it and play it back. Or simply click on the recording below!

Close your eyes and imagine that you stand before a great oak tree. Take several deep breaths and, with each breath, imagine that your body becomes increasingly transparent. Now, move close to the tree and walk into the trunk. You are now one with the tree.

Follow the heavy roots of the tree as they descend through layers of sediment, rock, and soil. You follow the roots even more deeply into the dark, cold earth. Follow the roots until you come to their end, which sets you inside a large cave. You cannot see anything before you, but you can sense the enormity of the cavern.

Eventually, as you stand in the darkness of the cave, you spot the glowing mark or symbol of the animal spirit. Walk toward it, reach down, and touch the glowing symbol, and watch the cave as it crumbles around you to reveal the animal spirit’s landscape. Your animal power is waiting there for you.

Ask the animal spirit what magical power it lends to you.

(Reader: pause for a moment.)

Now ask the animal spirit what drawbacks it brings to your life.

(Reader: pause for a moment.)

Finally, ask the familiar spirit for a chant or a word of power that you might use to summon your animal’s power.

(Reader: pause for a moment.)

Once you are ready to leave the lower world, bid the animal power farewell. When you do this, the cave will surround you once more. Reach up and you will find the root of the oak tree. follow it back to the upper realm. Step out of the tree trunk. Open your eyes and write down what you were told.

Whenever you need the animal spirit’s power, use your chant or word of power. Do not share this word or chant with anyone else.

In addition to this journey, Roderick also includes another method to use whenever we want to seek our familiar spirit’s advice on any matter.

First, we take time to formulate our questions, and we try to ask open-ended questions so that our familiar self’s wisdom won’t end with a simple yes or no. This will prevent the familiar spirit from becoming frustrated if it can’t fully express itself. Similarly, the spirit may become frustrated if we don’t follow the advice it gives, so before we ask any questions we have to be sure we’re prepared to follow whatever the spirit tells us. Even if we don’t think the answer coincides with the question, we must follow the advice we receive. It may be that only after events have concluded that we can see how the familiar has guided us toward a good resolution.

Practice: Animal Instinct

Animal Power Incense

Animal Power Oil

Blank Paper and Pen or Pencil

Light the animal power incense and anoint yourself with the animal power oil. Close your eyes and return to the lower realm, as you have done before, by following the roots of the oak tree that you visualize. Follow the roots until you come to their end, which sets you inside a large cave.

As you stand inside the darkness of the cave, you spot the glowing mark or symbol of the animal spirit. Walk toward it, reach down and touch the glowing symbol, and watch the cave as it crumbles around you to reveal the animal spirit’s landscape. Your animal power is waiting there for you.

Ask the animal spirit for its guidance in your situation. Wait for your answer. Once you receive it, bid the animal power farewell. When you do this, the cave will surround you once more. Reach up and you will find the root of the oak tree. Follow it back to the upper realm. Step out of the tree trunk. Open your eyes and write down what you were told.

Follow the advice of the familiar self.

I performed the first visualization here, and Badger told me that the strengths he brings me are surety in purpose and a profound, practical groundedness. When I take a step, I know that I am going to find solid ground beneath my feet. Unfortunately, the flip side of this is that I need to cultivate adventure, for it does not come readily to me anymore. This isn’t just going somewhere and doing new things–which I actually quite enjoy doing, so long as I minimize risk. It’s being afraid to fall, both physically and emotionally. It is difficult to open up and let others in, which is an adventure of its own.

I know I am to keep the chant Badger gave me secret, but it was basically any chant which makes me fully embodied and thoroughly grounded. In my case, it’s the opening chant I learned in Kundalini meditation, which we use to “tune in”: Ong namo guru dev namo. It means “I bow to the divine spark in all things. I bow to these divine teachings.” A pretty good instruction of how to perform this chant can be found in this simple YouTube video:

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About the Project

I'm Melissa Zupan. This blog began in 2008 as a record of my attempt to work through Timothy Roderick's book, "Wicca: A Year and a Day." Since then I joined up with a merry coven of Gardnerian witches and became an initiate in 2013.
The blog is now a fuller record of my life and work in Wicca. Right now, there's no main theme. I just write what I want to write.

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